Your Biggest Source of Free Advertising: Moms

Moms are among the top users of social networks and make up the majority of users for a number of mobile devices – and they like to use their social media connections to recommend and find trusted information about products and services. Add that to the fact that moms make most of the financial decisions in any given family (see my last article on the mom demographic for more info), and you have a recipe for a perfect way to get the word out about your business – if you can market to them.

Moms Top Social Media Users and Digital Device Owners

In the past couple of years, surveys have consistently shown that moms are leading the way when it comes to social media usage and digital device ownership – meaning that moms are the most likely party to see or even follow your online marketing campaign, whether you’re a B2B or B2C business.

In April 2012, the BabyCenter’s 21st Century Mobile Mom Report found that moms are 28% more likely than the general population to use a tablet, and 38% more likely to own a smartphone of any brand. A full 65% of moms own a smartphone, and moms are 58% more likely than any other demographic to use their mobile phone to make purchases.

Last year, PC Magazine reported on a new study by Nielsen, sharing that moms are more likely than the general population to be involved in social networking. Nielsen found that three in four moms visits Facebook on a monthly basis, and 50 percent of moms use their smartphone to access social networking apps and sites (compared to 37% of the non-mom population). One out of every three blogs is written by a mom.

As we’ve discussed on the CEM blog in the past, moms are the primary users of most social networking sites – most notably Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. What’s more, these moms are primarily members of Generation Y, who are, of course, the age demographic that’s using social media the most.

But here’s the kicker in terms of how moms can boost your sales and help you spread the word about your business: moms are 38% more likely than anyone else to become a fan of or otherwise follow a brand online. A joint study undertaken by 360PR and Mom It Forward in late 2012 found that over 75% of moms follow brands they love through social media.

Moms Love Recommending Brands – And Other Moms Listen

Okay, so moms use social media more than any other demographic, and they like to follow their favorite brands. That’s good information for any business to have in terms of how they should be running their social media campaign, but where it really counts – and where it can really bring in a huge ROI – is the way that moms are using social media to talk about products. And studies are finding that moms not only listen to recommendations online, they also love to make recommendations.

That 360PR/Mom It Forward study I mentioned looked specifically at how moms make recommendations to each other via social media. The first statistic is pretty significant: 93% percent of the moms they surveyed said that, in some way or another, their purchasing decisions were influenced by the recommendations of other moms.

Let me repeat that: 93% of moms said they based their purchases off of other moms’ recommendations. This is a huge opportunity for businesses – if you can get into the mom recommendation cycle, word of mouth can get your name all over the internet and bring in tons of revenue.

While it’s true that moms are more likely to get those recommendations in person than online, social media remains one of the biggest ways that moms communicate about brands they like (and brands they hate – you don’t want to get on moms’ bad side). 53% of moms surveyed by 360PR and Mom It Forward said that they get their product recommendations through social media.

How often are moms making these recommendations? Pretty frequently, it seems. One in two moms makes a brand or product recommendation either daily or weekly, and 21% of moms talk to their friends and family members about products at least once per month.

Mom recommendations can take a lot of forms. Here are a couple Tweets from popular mom bloggers. You’ll notice that some simply mention products, while others make an explicit recommendation.

Clearly, whatever form the recommendation takes – and whether it’s on Twitter, Facebook, or a mom review blog like MommyInsider.com – moms are talking about products. Why not take advantage of this trend to get the word out about your product, by targeting your next marketing campaign towards moms?

A Word of Caution

Of course, you’ll want to be careful in your marketing campaigns. As I’ve talked about before, marketing to women is not about decking out your ad campaign in pink. Rather, it’s more about providing solid information, talking about utility, and marketing to women as people with complex lives.

When it comes to social media marketing, volume is key, too: 55% of moms said that they had de-Liked, unfriended, or stopped following a brand because they were receiving too many ads. And of course, you don’t want to wind up making the rounds on the not-to-buy lists circulated by moms, like this stroller company:

So, plan your mom-targeting wisely! A well-thought-out marketing campaign aimed at moms is a huge opportunity for any company. Focusing your marketing efforts at moms can help you get the word out about your business, and result in widespread free advertisement for a huge return on your initial investment. Take advantage of the possibilities that come along with marketing to moms on your next marketing campaign, and let us know how it goes!

Have you reached out to moms as part of your marketing strategy? Do you plan to?

Beans

Beans graduated from Smith College in 2011 with a BA in History of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, and has worked as a farmer, a cook on a food truck, and an archival assistant. Outside of writing and editing for CEM, Beans enjoys reading voraciously, watching space documentaries, and baking vegan treats. Currently, Beans lives in Salt Lake City, UT.